Vodacom`s Group Executive - Corporate Affairs, Joan Joffe, lists 9 ways potential buyers can check whether a second-hand cellphone offered for sale may have been stolen:
1. Check if the cellphone is being sold without its charger. If the seller can`t provide you with a charger suitable for that model, the cellphone and original charger might have been separated during a crime.
2. Check if all the cellphone`s parts match each other. For example, if the battery is one colour and the face another colour, the phone could have been assembled using stolen parts.
3. Check if there is a sticker behind the battery listing the phone`s unique 15 or 16 digit serial number. If the sticker has been removed, it may have been to confuse the authorities. However, all cellphone`s will display their serial numbers after one punches in *#06# on the keypad.
4. Check the cellphone`s phonebook. Some cellphones allow the option of storing telephone numbers not only in the SIM card, but also in the cellphone itself. If there are telephone numbers in the phonebook, ask the seller to explain each one of them.
5. Check if the cellphone is being sold with its original box and packaging. Like cars, it`s much safer to buy a cellphone that has its "papers in order."
6. Check if the seller knows about the features and performance of the cellphone. If the seller can`t supply satisfactory answers, it`s probably because he has no experience of that handset because it belonged to someone else a short while ago!
7. Check the cellphone casing for signs of tampering. If it appears the cellphone has been opened, the electronic components may have been tampered with in an attempt to make the cellphone untraceable by Vodacom.
8. Check if the seller is an established dealer in cellphones. Legitimate sellers wouldn`t approach potential buyers on street corners. As long as receipts are kept, established dealers should also be able to refund buyers whose cellphones later turn out to be stolen.
9. Check if the cellphone has been blacklisted. Insert a SIM card into the cellphone and make a call (Not one of the toll free calls). If the call goes through, it is almost certain that the cellphone has not been listed as stolen on the Equipment Identity Register - the blacklist of the cellular industry. However, the owner may still be in the process of blacklisting the cellphone while you are testing it.
Finally, Ms Joffe suggests that buyers of used cellphones make a photocopy of the seller`s identity document so that he may be traced if the cellphone turns out to be stolen.
For more information on how to beat cellphone theft, dial 082 124 from a Telkom line or 124 from a Vodacom cellphone.
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